A service refers to a defined set of functionality or capabilities that is made available and accessible in a network environment. Devices and/or software applications transmit requests to the service which performs the desired function for the particular device or application.
Services are employed in a wide variety of technical environments. For example, services are used extensively in Web related technologies. A Web service with a particular function may be made available at a particular network address. Systems that require the particular functionality may transmit a request via the Web to the web service, which then performs the desired function. In an example scenario, a Web service may be employed by one system to exchange data with an otherwise incompatible system.
Services are also widely used in the context of machine to machine (M2M) and internet of things (IoT) technologies. Machine to machine (M2M) is a broad label that is used to describe technology that enables networked devices to exchange information and perform actions without the manual assistance of humans. The Internet of Things (IoT) refers to a scenario in which objects, including machines and components of machines, are provided with unique identifiers and the ability to automatically transfer data between objects over a network without requiring human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction. Services, which are sometimes referred to as resources in the M2M/IoT context, are used to provide access to M2M capabilities including those related to, for example, security, charging, and data management.
Recently, there has been interest in allowing Web services to access M2M/IoT services. In other words, there is growing interest in allowing Web applications to make use of functionality provided by M2M/IoT services. Existing technologies have proven inadequate in supporting the desired integration.